The Marine Air Terminal at La Guardia Airport in New York City remains
the only active airport terminal dating from the first generation of passenger
travel in the United States--the "Golden Age of the Flying Boat." The
Marine Air Terminal, an Art Deco building designed in 1939 by William
Delano of the firm Delano & Aldrich, is comprised of a central circular
core of two stories with an attic from which a rectangular entrance pavilion
and two symmetrically opposed one-story wings project. Inside the terminal
hangs "Flight," a mural measuring 12 feet in height and 237 feet in length.
Completed by James Brooks in 1940, "Flight" depicts the history of man's
involvement with flight.

Pan Am's Yankee Clipper made its first
flight across the mid-Atlantic on March 26, 1939Photo courtesy of www.panamair.org

By the early 1930s, commercial airlines and airports were developing
due to the Federal government's use of private contractors for postal
transport and Charles Lindbergh's famous transatlantic
flight. New York was in dire need of a new airport by 1934 when Fiorello
H. La Guardia was elected mayor. Plans for the airport, which was to be
federally sponsored and funded through the Works Progress Administration
(WPA), were approved by President Roosevelt on September 3, 1937. Only
six days later, the Mayor presided over groundbreaking ceremonies and
construction proceeded rapidly. At 558 acres with nearly four miles of
runways, the $40,000,000 airport was the largest and most expensive in
the world. New York City Airport--La Guardia Field opened on October 15,
1939 and the Marine Air Terminal was dedicated in March 1940. The first
flight from the Marine Air Terminal by a Clipper departed on March 31,
1940, carrying a crew of 10, nine passengers and over 5,000 pounds of
mail and landed in Lisbon 18 hours and 30 minutes later. These Clippers--with
a wing span of 152 feet, a cruising speed of 200mph and a capacity to
carry 72 passengers--were luxurious. The two-deck interior featured dining
rooms, private compartments and sleeping sections. However, this glamorous
era of the Clippers was brought to an abrupt halt by the outbreak of World
War II. By the end of the war, technological advances in airplane design
had made the Clippers obsolete and the Marine Air Terminal was converted
for the newer airplanes. Today the Marine Air Terminal is used by commuter
airlines, air taxis, private aircraft, Signature Flight Support (a fixed-base
operator) and a weather service.

The Marine Air Terminal is located at La Guardia Airport in New York
City. It is still an active terminal, open during normal hours of operation.
Please visit the airport's website
for further information.